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UCU announces 14 strike dates at 61 universities in pensions row

29 January 2018
| last updated: 5 February 2018

Strikes will begin on Thursday 22 February

UCU has written to the 61 universities* to inform them of an escalating wave of strikes over a four-week period that will begin with a five-day walkout either side of a weekend. There will then be four days of strikes from Monday 5 - Thursday 8 March and a full five-day walkout the following week (12 - 16 March). The strike dates are:

Due to their academic calendar four universities - King's, Queen Mary, Edinburgh and Stirling - will not take action in week one. They will start their action in week two on Monday 26 February. They will then walk out for two days on Monday 19 and Tuesday 20 March.

Last week talks between UCU and the employers' representative Universities UK (UUK) ended without agreement and UUK's plans to transform the scheme were forced through by the chair's casting vote.

The dispute centres on UUK's proposals to end the defined benefit element of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) pension scheme. UCU says this would leave a typical lecturer almost £10,000 a year worse off in retirement than under the current set-up.

In the recent strike ballot UCU members overwhelmingly backed industrial action. Overall, 88% of members who voted backed strike action and 93% backed action short of a strike. The turnout was 58%. A full breakdown of the results by institution is available here.

UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said: 'Staff who have delivered the international excellence universities boast of are understandably angry at efforts to slash their pensions. They feel let down by vice-chancellors who seem to care more about defending their own pay and perks than the rights of their staff.

'Strike action on this scale has not been seen before on UK campuses, but universities need to know the full scale of the disruption they will be hit with if they refuse to sort this mess out.'

Seven universities^ failed to meet the government's new 50% turnout requirement for action to be allowed. Those institutions are being balloted again for strike action and their ballots will close on Friday 16 February.

All seven voted for action in the previous ballot. If they do so again, and at least 50% participate in the vote, they would be able to join the action from Monday 5 March.

* Universities affected by strike action

Aberdeen, University of

Aberystwyth University

Aston University

Bangor University

Bath, University of

Birkbeck College, University of London

Bristol, University of

Brunel University

Cambridge, University of

Cardiff University

City, University of London

Courtauld Institute of Art

Cranfield University

Dundee, University of

Durham University

East Anglia, University of

Edinburgh, University of

Essex, University of

Exeter, University of

Glasgow, University of

Goldsmiths, University of London

Heriot-Watt University

Hull, University of

Imperial College London

Institute of Education

Keele University

Kent, University of

King's College London

Lancaster, University of

Leeds, University of

Leicester, University of

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

Liverpool, University of

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Loughborough University

Manchester, University of

Newcastle University

Nottingham, University of

Open University

Oxford, University of

Queen Mary, University of London

Queen's University Belfast

Reading, University of

Royal Holloway, University of London

Royal Veterinary College, University of London

Salford, University of

Senate House, University of London

Sheffield, University of

SOAS, University of London

Southampton, University of

St Andrews, University of

Stirling, University of

Strathclyde, University of

Surrey, University of

Sussex, University of

University College London

Scottish Association for Marine Science at University of the Highlands and Islands

Ulster University

University of Wales

University of Warwick

University of York

^ Universities being balloted again for action

Birmingham, University ofBradford, University ofLondon School of EconomicsRuskin CollegeSt George's, University of LondonSuffolk, UniversitySwansea University